Sekibetsu
by Sylvia Viridian
Summary: Part of a three part collaboration. Chapter 1: Kratos muses on the death of a student. Massive spoilers, nonexplicit violence, character death. Sheelos and eventual Kraine. Don't like? Don't read.


Hello, and welcome to my latest project, a three-part collaboration with my friends Shary (Sha-chan) and CardcaptorKiki (Kiki-chan). These three stories are set during the game, beginning with Zelos' death, and show the viewpoints of three different characters. Sha-chan's fic Incroyable is in Raine's point of view, while Kiki-chan has taken on Sheena's part in Shinobi Yoru Kage. Next, they brought me into it as Kratos.

Kratos-path spoilers abound; I would hope that was obvious. We don't own Tales of Symphonia, equally obvious. If you want to know what Sheena was saying, go read Kiki-chan's fic. Anything else...Oh, yes, 'Sekibetsu' means 'parting regrets' in Japanese.

Pairings are Sheelos and eventual Kraine, although this chapter leaned a little more than I intended toward my current obsession of Kralos. But it's not. Really. shifty eyes Anyway, no complaining.

Gah, line breaks aren't working for some reason...

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I watched as they arrived, from my perch far above them, angelic senses missing nothing despite the distance. Watched, and waited for the betrayal I knew would take place. I had tried to persuade him, but to no avail…it seemed I had missed my chance to gain his trust five years ago.

The scene unfolded below me as I had already known it must; they trusted him enough not to stop Colette from triggering the 'surprise' he'd planned, at the very least. Once Pronyma and the angels had left with Colette, the others approached Zelos. Lloyd didn't want to believe in what Zelos was doing; my heart ached to hear the frantic denial in his tone. And Zelos' responses…how could I have been so blind to his plight? Surely, if I had looked closer, there would have been something I could do for him, some way to encourage the group to believe in him…now, it was too late, as Lloyd's group attacked.

Helplessly, I watched the fight. Zelos fought better than I'd ever seen him in our sparring matches. In the five years since I'd taught him, he'd improved far more than I'd expected him to, and I realized belatedly that he must have been trying to impress me, given the emphasis he'd placed on his skills in the few conversations we'd had since then…but as always, I had ignored him, belittled him, pushed him away. One more crime to add to the interminable list of my sins.

Zelos fought well, but he was battling seven skilled opponents. It was a losing battle, and all of them knew it. Finally, he fell, still smiling, that ironic grin that hurt to look at for those who knew what lay beneath it. I'd only seen him without it a few times, but it was often enough.

Once his tortured breathing finally stilled, I watched them leave…except for Sheena. As I looked on, she approached his body, and I realized in a painful flash what was going on. I turned away then, to give her what privacy I could in that moment, but of course my ears still caught every word, every sobbing breath. Once again, I cursed the so-called gifts that Yggdrasill had 'blessed' us with; she deserved to be alone for this, and I could not grant her even that small courtesy.

Finally, after forcibly composing herself, Sheena left, and I was able to emerge from my place in the shadows. Extending my wings, I flew down slowly, my enhanced vision picking out every tragic, gruesome detail of the scene below me as I approached. Finally, my boots touched the stone floor a few feet from where Zelos lay. I approached reluctantly. I knew I was being ridiculous, but somehow I still harbored a secret wish that somehow, there might remain a bit of life in his body, that I might be able to heal his wounds. It was a vain hope, of course; I would be able to hear his heartbeat as I drew near, no matter how faint it might have become. No, he was dead, and despair washed through me at the loss of this tragic, lively youth, although I knew the emotion never reached my face.

I knelt beside him, careless of the blood staining the floor beneath me. Even as I did so, my enhanced hearing caught the faint sound of an alarm echoing in the distance, and I knew I didn't have much time to spare. Still, even if it was only in death, Zelos deserved the attention from me that I'd never been able to give him during his life. I stared into his lifeless blue eyes, devoid of the clever spark they had once shown. Even though he behaved like an idiot much of the time, those eyes had always betrayed his intelligence. It was why I had been so quick to grow irritated with him in the past; I could see that he had so much more to give than he was willing to show. Now, I knew that he had simply been afraid of being hurt.

He'd tried to reach out a bit, though, in the past. When he saw that I didn't care about his status as the Chosen…he tried to connect with me emotionally, to form a bond of trust. I could see it in his eyes, the longing for support…he had needed a figure of authority, someone he could put trust in; that was something his parents had never given him. But I…in the state of mind I had been in then, I was simply not capable of being anyone's father figure. Having already lost one child, I was none-too-eager to seek or even accept the presence of another…and so I pushed him away, kept my distance. He tried to impress me, but I rebuffed him at every turn. I wondered, now, if I could have saved him by showing a little more kindness back then, if I could have prevented this tragedy.

My heart heavy with regret, I reached one hand out and gently closed those haunting eyes, suppressing a shudder at the feel of his cold flesh. "I'm sorry," I whispered softly. It seemed that my apologies always came too late to do anyone any good. Rising, I turned away after one final glance, and went to attend to the living.  
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Please review! Also, go read Incroyable and Shinobi Yoru Kage, by Shary and CardcaptorKiki respectively.


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